San Juan Bautista School of Medicine (SJBSOM) is a Medical School in Puerto Rico, mainly focused on community service. Our school is an institution with an ethnic minority student enrollment reaching almost a 100% and more than 50% of women as faculty members. We were recently awarded with the accreditation of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and we are moving forward to develop a competitive research team based on community health issues. As part of our plans of promoting the growth of the research department we have created a Research Office, leaded by Dr. Irvin Maldonado, with one of its main goals being the development of research in different areas of the biomedical and behavioral sciences. Progressing towards our goals the Research Office, with the backup of our institution, has significantly expanded the laboratory facilities and has hired new faculty members with the capacity to develop research. In addition, we have already established collaborations with well recognized institutions in the research field. These solid partnerships have provided to our researchers with counseling and mentoring regarding grantsmanship issues. SJBSOM is applying for the Extramural Associates Research Development Award (EARDA) (G11), and has selected Dr. Irvin Maldonado as the Extramural Associate. This funding opportunity will assist us in the acquisition of tools that will help us to hearten our research leaders. Our research plan for this funding opportunity includes: the development of a Sponsored Research Program, the training of our administrative officials and faculty members in the latest policies, research issues and procedures of grantsmanship, and finally the improvement of the reward system for the faculty members engaged in research. SJBSOM sustains its strong commitment of entirely promoting the continuous growth of the research office and its plans for the benefit of our community. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This Initiative is to establish an administrative structure to support the Biomedical Clinical and Behavioral Research at the Escuela de Medicina San Juan Bautista.